Lando Norris holds McLaren talks after calling engineer 'stupid' amid F1 fury
Lando Norris admitted he "hates" how aggressive he can sometimes sound on the radio after calling his race engineer "stupid" at last weekend's Dutch Grand Prix.
He began the Zandvoort race second but had his entire plan changed right at the start as a downpour hit the track. Some drivers immediately headed for the pit lane, but Norris was one of those who stayed out with McLaren believing that was the best option.
The Brit reported over the radio that he was "too slow" and that he wanted to pit. Race engineer Jose Manuel Lopez said in response that he was faster than those on intermediate tyres, to which Norris replied: "What the f***? Are you stupid?"
He then pitted for intermediate tyres but had slipped down the order due to the delay. He ended up finishing the race seventh and was disappointed having started in a strong position to add another podium.
Asked ahead of this weekend's Italian Grand Prix about those angry radio messages, Norris said the matter had been discussed internally. He also said he sounds more frustrated than he often is in the heat of the race and expressed his regret over how hot-headed he can sometimes come across.
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Norris said: "We just spoke about it a bit now. As always, it was just a few days of reviewing things and making sure we look at things first.
"I always say things... when you look at it after, I always make myself look like an idiot, and I get that. But the people that I speak to know that I would never mean something like that, of course. It's more we made some mistakes with our calls and strategy and things like that.
"A bit of it is just emotions at the time. I think I said the other day, I always sound like I'm crying or I'm moaning on the radio – I don't know why – I hate it. I feel like I'm really relaxed and chilled in the car, but then I'm always the opposite when I listen to myself after.
"There's just always discussions, I guess. There are always things that you're trying to tell them and information that you're trying to get, but it's just a couple of times when the information was not to the level that it should have been, clearly, then I guess it gets a little bit frustrating a couple of times. But it's stuff we've reviewed and definitely won't happen again."
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